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Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Detroit Metropolitan Airport (Also known as Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport, Detroit Metro Airport or just DTW) was the main airport for the city of Detroit before the Great War. Formerly Michigan's busiest airport and a key commercial and transport hub, it has seen a number of different uses and been held by several different groups since that conflict. History During the 21st century, Detroit Metropolitan Airport underwent a number of renovations and expansions aimed at increasing its capacity. These were only partially successful; not only did the efforts at renovation cause long-term disruptions to travellers and operations, but also they led to a legacy of cost overruns and delays. Poor design decisions also resulted in an emphasis on throughput and capacity at the expense of comfort, leading to an aggressively ugly design that was marred by congestion. On the morning of October 23rd, 2077, the airport was packed full of people, both those coming and attempting to leave. The carpark was snarled and congested, making both getting in and out difficult. Delays had let the runway ramps crowded with queued aircraft, packed with passengers and cargo. National Guard troops had been deployed to the airport, given that it was seen as a vital transport link, but they were largely indifferent to the problems the passengers faced. These conditions would serve to exacerbate what was to come. While the airport was not directly hit, it suffered the side-effects of other nuclear blasts. Airbursts knocked an aircraft that was on approach out of the sky, seeing it crash on the runway before exploding into flames. The fires quickly spread, fuelled by the blasts, reaching the other waiting aircraft. This triggered a mass panic among those on board, leading to a stampede that thwarted efforts to fight the disaster. Inside the terminals, the situation was scarcely any better. Those inside panicked, trying to escape the building despite the crowded conditions. Chaos reigned as groups tried to either flee the building or, alternatively, try and force their way onto aircraft in a futile effort at escape. Efforts by the National Guard to impose order had the opposite effect, leading to a full-scale riot. Gunfights broke out between soldiers and panicking civilians, the latter of which took to arming themselves with whatever they could get. The situation was only made worse by the arrival of radioactive fallout, which washed over the airport by a tidal wave. The burning aircraft outside, themselves nuclear powered, contributed further to the problem, saturating the immediate area and those in it. This served to defuse the situation after a fashion, as many began to collapse from the exposure, now too weak to keep fighting. Others would use the situation to try and flee the area, not that there was any real safety to be had elsewhere. Those that could leave, did, with the sick and dying being left behind to fend for themselves. Ultimately, most of those in the airport would die, either through violence or radiation illness from exposure. Of course, there were also those that would survive their exposure, and instead be transformed into feral ghouls. Like the rest of Detroit, the airport would be functionally abandoned within a year of the Great War. It would remain that way for nearly a century, even after people began to return to the city. Even by the 2130s, the airport was still ‘hotter’ than the rest of the city, a legacy of the wrecked aircraft that still littered the field. This radiation had in turn attracted feral Ghouls, who infested the ruins. These elements were enough to not only keep settlers at bay, but even hold back scavengers and raiders who would have been otherwise drawn to what lay there. Instead, it would not be until 2174 that humans returned to the airport in force. The would-be Warlord, Preah Khan, was looking for a base of operations from which he could stage his conquest of the Detroit Wasteland. The airport at first glance seemed to be ideal for him. Its large size could house the army that he had raised, while its position outside of the city proper meant that it would be safe from potential attacks. Category:Places Category:Communities Category:Michigan